Gawain
Gawain, spelled many ways, is a character in the Arthurian legend where he is one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain appears under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include De Ortu Waluuanii, Diu Crône, Ywain and Gawain, Golagros and Gawane, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, L'âtre périlleux, La Mule sans frein, La Vengeance Raguidel, Le Chevalier à l'épée, Le Livre d'Artus, The Awntyrs off Arthure, The Greene Knight, and The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell.
In Arthurian chivalric romance literature, Gawain is typically depicted as King Arthur's closest companion and an integral member of the elite Round Table. In the best-known versions of the legend, he is the son of Arthur's sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. Here, his younger brothers are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and the infamous Mordred. However, his familial relations and upbringing [|are recorded differently] in various accounts. They often involve a story of Gawain unknowingly being raised in foster care in Rome before returning to Britain to reunite with his biological relatives. His [|many children from his numerous wives and lovers] include the "Fair Unknown", Gingalain, who became a popular hero of Arthurian romance.
In the early Welsh texts, Gawain is portrayed as a formidable but courteous and compassionate warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and his family. He is known as a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor and the unfortunate, and as the "Maidens' Knight", a rescuer of women as well, especially in variants of the Castle of Maidens theme. Other notable recurring motifs include his skill in healing, his special swords that may include the famed Caliburn, and his mighty warhorse named Gringolet. In the later version of his legend, he possesses superhuman strength connected to a day and night cycle, adding to his already outstanding martial prowess and making him an invincible swordsman around noon, when the sun is at its height.
However, Gawain's glowing portrayal is diminished in the Vulgate Cycle, which elevates Lancelot and Galahad. His character turns markedly ignoble in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and even outright villainous in the Prose Tristan, resulting in his conflicted characterization in Le Morte d'Arthur. While he was originally known for his religious piety, in this tradition, he becomes a symbol of secular knighthood and thus a major object of criticism by the authors of French prose cycles. Two important plotlines shed light on Gawain's redefined characterization: his role as a leader in the family blood feud against the clan of King Pellinore and his initially close friendship with another great knight, Sir Lancelot, which becomes a bitter rivalry when he seeks vengeance for the death of his brothers. In this tradition, featured in Le Morte d'Arthur, Gawain's sinful ways and his unforgiving nature inadvertently lead to the fall of Arthur and the Round Table and, ultimately, his own death by Lancelot's hand.
Name
Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The character corresponds to the Welsh Gwalchmei ap Gwyar, or Gwalchmai, and throughout the Middle Ages was known in Latin as Galvaginus, Gualgunus, Gualgwinus, Walwanus, Waluanus, Walwen, etc.; in Old French primarily as Gavain and also as Gauvain, Gauvan, Gauven, Gavan or Gavayn ; in Middle High German as Gâwein or Gâwân; in Italian dialects as Gavino, Galvagin or Galvano; in Old Spanish as Galván; in Old Portuguese as Galvam or Galvão; and in Middle English also as Gawaine, Gawan, Gawayn, Gawein, Gaweyn, Gauwein, Gauweyn or Wawen, among many other forms and spellings. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh Gwalchmei.The element Gwalch means hawk, and is a typical epithet in medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of mei is uncertain. It has been suggested that it refers to the month of May, rendering "Hawk of May", although Rachel Bromwich considers this unlikely. Kenneth Jackson suggests the name evolved from an early Common Brittonic name *Ualcos Magesos, meaning "Hawk of the Plain". Not all scholars accept the gwalch derivation. John Koch suggests the name could be derived from a Brythonic original *Wolcos Magesos, "Wolf/Errant Warrior of the Plain."
Others argue that the continental forms do not ultimately derive from Gwalchmei. Roger Sherman Loomis suggests a derivation from the epithet Gwallt Avwyn, found in the list of heroes in Culhwch and Olwen, which he translates as "hair like reins" or "bright hair". Lauran Toorians proposes that the Dutch name Walewein was earliest, suggesting it entered Britain during the large settlement of Flemings in Wales in the early 12th century. However, most scholarship supports a derivation from Gwalchmei, variants of which are well attested in Wales and Brittany. Bromwich, Joseph Loth, and Heinrich Zimmer all trace the etymology of the continental versions to a corruption of the Breton form of this name, Walcmoei.
Gwalchmei
Gawain's precursor, Gwalchmei son of Gwyar, was a hero of Welsh mythology and clearly a major figure of the now largely lost oral tradition. His popularity greatly increased after foreign versions, particularly those derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, became known in Wales. The Gwyar in Gwalchmei ap Gwyar is likely the name of Gwalchmei's mother, rather than his father, as is the standard in the Welsh Triads. Gwyar appears as a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig in one version of the hagiographical genealogy Bonedd y Saint. The 14th-century fragment Birth of Arthur, a Welsh text that adapts scenes from Geoffrey, substitutes Gwyar for Anna, Geoffrey's name for Gawain's mother, the Queen of Orkney. His father is named as Emyr Llydaw, that is Budic II of Brittany. There, Gwalchmei is given three sisters: Gracia, Graeria, and Dioneta, the last of which being a counterpart of Morgan.Early references to Gwalchmei include the Welsh Triads; the Englynion y Beddau, which lists the site of his grave; the Trioedd y Meirch, which praises his horse named Keincaled ; and Cynddelw's elegy for Owain Gwynedd, which compares Owain's boldness to that of Gwalchmei. In the Welsh Triads, Triad 4 lists him as one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Isle of Britain" ; Triad 75 describes him as one of the "Three Men of the Island of Britain who were Most Courteous to Guests and Strangers"; and Triad 91 praises his fearlessness. Some versions of Triads 42 and 46 also praise his horse Keincaled, echoing the Triads of the Horses. The singling out of Gwalchmei as Most Courteous evokes his role in the Mabinogion, where he regularly serves as an intermediary between King Arthur's court and stranger knights.
An early Welsh romance Culhwch and Olwen, composed in the 11th century, and eventually associated with the Mabinogion, ascribes to Gwalchmei the same relationship with Arthur that Gawain is later given: he is the son of Arthur's sister and one of his leading warriors. However, he is mentioned only twice in the text, once in the extensive list of Arthur's court towards the beginning of the story, and again as one of the "Six Helpers" whom Arthur sends with the protagonist Culhwch on his journey to find his love Olwen. Unlike the other helpers, he takes no further part in the action. This suggests he was added to the romance later, likely under the influence of the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia. He also appears in Peredur fab Efrawg, part of the Mabinogion, where he aids the hero Peredur in the final battle against the nine witches of Caer Loyw. A similar motif was mentioned by the 16th-century Welsh scholar Sion Dafydd Rhys in an unrecorded oral tale in which Gwalchmei destroyed three evil witch-sisters, wives of the giants previously slain by Arthur, killing them within their castles through his cunning, as they could not be defeated otherwise, due to their powers. Gwalchmei himself appears as a giant in Welsh folklore.
Gawain
Histories and romances
The first known references to Gawain outside Wales began to appear in the first half of the 12th century. William of Malmesbury writes, in his Gesta Regum Anglorum of around 1125, that "Walwen's" grave had been uncovered in Pembrokeshire hundreds of years after his death, following the 11th-century Norman conquest of England. William recounts how Arthur's nephew, a renowned Post-Roman Briton soldier celebrated for his bravery, tirelessly fought against the Saxons led by Hengest's brother: "He deservedly shared in his uncle's praising, because he prevented the fall of his collapsing country for many years." William also noted uncertainty regarding the manner of his death: "There, as certain people claim, he was wounded by his enemies, and cast forth from a shipwreck; by others, it is said that he was killed by his fellow citizens at a public feast. Therefore, knowledge of the truth falls in doubt, although neither of these stories would fail in defense of his fame." He also describes Walwen as a former ruler of Galloway, which he says was still called Walweitha centuries later in his times.However, it was Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of Gawain in the Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136, that brought the character to a wider audience. As in the Welsh tradition, Geoffrey's Gawain is the son of Arthur's sister, here named Anna, and her husband is Lot, the prince of Lothian and one of Arthur's key supporters. Geoffrey mentions that Gawain was twelve years old at the time when King Lot and Arthur began a war with Norway, and that he had previously served Pope Sulpicius in Rome. Gawain later plays a major role as one of the leaders in Arthur's victorious war against the Romans, having personally started this great conflict by killing the Roman envoy Caius who had insulted him and Arthur. Geoffrey's Gawain is depicted as a supreme warrior and potential heir to the throne until he is tragically struck down by the forces of his traitorous brother Mordred at Richborough, during an attempted sea landing that turned into a disaster.
Geoffrey's work was immensely popular and was adapted into many languages. The Norman version by Wace, the Roman de Brut, ascribes to Gawain the chivalric aspect he would take in later literature, wherein he favours courtliness and love over martial valor. Several later works expand on Geoffrey's mention of Gawain's boyhood spent in Rome, the most important of which is the anonymous Medieval Latin De Ortu Waluuanii Nepotis Arturi, which describes his birth, boyhood, and early adventures leading up to his knighting by his uncle.
Image:Ywain-Gawain.JPG|thumb|Gawain unwittingly fights Yvain in the Garrett MS. No. 125 manuscript of Chrétien's Knight of the Lion |alt=
Beginning with the five works of Chrétien de Troyes in the second half of the 12th century, Gawain became a very popular figure in Old French chivalric romances. Chrétien features Gawain as a major character and establishes some characteristics that pervade later depictions, including his unparalleled courteousness and his way with women. His romances set the pattern often followed in later works in which Gawain serves as an ally to the protagonist and a model of knighthood to whom others are compared. However, in Chrétien's later romances, especially Lancelot, le Chevalier de la Charrette and Perceval ou le Conte du Graal, the eponymous heroes Lancelot and Perceval prove morally superior to Gawain, who follows the rules of courtliness to the letter rather than the spirit. Chrétien's story of Gawain's cousin Yvain, Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion, was translated into Middle English as Ywain and Gawain. Gawain is also prominent in the continuations of Perceval, in particular the First Continuation and Perlesvaus.
An influx of romances written in French appeared in Chrétien's wake. While Gawain stands out as the most popular character of all Arthurian knights in the entire genre, their authors characterise him variously. In some of these "Gawain romances", such as La Vengeance Raguidel and La Mule sans frein, he is the hero. In others, such as Meraugis de Portlesguez and ', he aids the hero. Sometimes he is also the subject of burlesque humor, as in the parody Le Chevalier à l'épée. In the variants of the Bel Inconnu story, he is the father of the hero. ', also known as Le Chevalier aux deux épées, contrasts the adventures of Gawain with these of the eponymous Mériadeuc, his former squire. Another notable squire of Gawain is the also eponymous protagonist of '.
For the English and the Scottish, Gawain remained a respectable and heroic figure, becoming the subject of several romances and lyrics in the dialects of their nations, such as the Middle Scots poem Golagros and Gawane. Important Gawain romances in English include The Awntyrs off Arthure, Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carlyle, and The Avowyng of Arthur. The Middle Dutch romances by Penninc and Pieter Vostaert, the ', held at Leiden University Libraries, and Walewein ende Keye, are both dedicated primarily to Gawain. The Middle High German romance Diu Crône by Heinrich von dem Türlin, in which Gawain is the protagonist who achieves the Grail and heals the Fisher King, also features a minor character of "the other Gawain": his lookalike, Aamanz.
Gawain is notably the hero of one of the greatest works of Middle English literature, the alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where he is portrayed as an excellent, but human, knight. Here, Gawain strongly resembles the Irish mythological hero Cuchulainn. In the poem, he must go to the titular Green Knight to, presumably, be killed by the Knight. Gawain does this as it pertains to a deal made between the two without knowing that it is all a test by the Knight. He is cited in Robert Laneham's letter describing the entertainments at Kenilworth in 1575, and the recopying of earlier works such as The Greene Knight suggests that a popular English tradition of Gawain continued. Different variants of the Green Knight story include The Turke and Sir Gawain. In possibly Thomas Malory's The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell, his wits, virtue, and respect for women frees his wife, a loathly lady, from her curse of ugliness. The Child Ballads include a preserved legend in a positive light: The Marriage of Sir Gawain, a fragmentary version of the story of The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle.
The Lancelot-Grail depicts Gawain as a proud and worldly knight and the leader of his siblings, who demonstrates through his failures the danger of neglecting the spiritual in favor of the material world. On the grand Grail Quest, his intentions are always the purest, but he is unable to use God's grace to see the error of his ways. Later, when his brothers Mordred and Agravain plot to destroy Lancelot and Queen Guinevere by exposing their love affair, Gawain tries to stop them. When Guinevere is sentenced to burn at the stake and Arthur deploys his best knights to guard the execution, Gawain nobly refuses to take part in the deed, even though his brothers will be there. But when Lancelot returns to rescue Guinevere, a battle between Lancelot's and Arthur's knights ensues, and Gawain's brothers Gareth and Gaheris are killed. This turns his friendship with Lancelot into hatred, and his desire for vengeance causes him to draw Arthur into a war with Lancelot in France. In the king's absence, Mordred usurps the throne, and the Britons must return to save Britain. Meanwhile, Gawain is mortally wounded by Lancelot himself after a long duel. King Arthur, his uncle in this version of the tale, becomes very distraught as he mourns his death. The Vulgate Mort Artu has Gawain's dead body carried to Camelot, where he is placed in the tomb of his dear brother Gaheriet.
Gawain's death in a battle against Mordred is described in detail in the English Alliterative Morte Arthure. Upon reaching land after returning to Britain from the continent, Gawain wreaks great slaughter on his enemies, killing the king of Gothland among others, before being surrounded on a hill. Breaking out, he pushes forward on a horse towards Mordred himself, and the two strike one another down from their horses with their lances. Gawain then attempts to cut Mordred's throat, but Mordred stabs him through the helmet. In the French verse Mort Artu attachment to ', Gawain attempts to disembark during the sea landing at Dover when one of Mordred's Saxon allies fatally strikes him in the head through an unlaced helmet; a similar account is told in the English Stanzaic Morte Arthur. In the Italian romance La Tavola Ritonda, having been defeated in his duel with Lancelot, Gawain takes part in resisting an attack by Lancelot's friend and ally, Sir Turinoro of Cartagina, when he is struck on his head in the same place where Lancelot had wounded him and falls dead during a single combat with a knight named Turinoro, who also dies.
Thomas Malory's English compilation work Le Morte d'Arthur is based mainly, but not exclusively, on French works from the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles. Here Gawain partly retains the negative characteristics attributed to him by the later French authors, and partly retains his earlier positive representations, creating a character seen by some as inconsistent, and by others as a believably flawed hero. Gawain is the first to declare that he "shall laboure in the Queste of the Sankgreall" but really embarks on the Grail quest in order to gain more magical meals and drinks from it rather than from a religious zeal or to save the Fisher King's kingdom. One of Malory's other French sources was L'âtre périlleux, a poem including the eponymous story of Gawain's rescue of a woman from a demon.
File:The Passing of Sir Gawaine.png|thumb|upright|"The Passing of Sir Gawaine", Howard Pyle's illustration from The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur |alt=
Malory's version of Gawain's demise follows the Vulgate. Gawain's two sons and his brothers, except for Mordred, end up slain by Lancelot and his followers. Their death unleashes the vindictive hostility of Gawain towards his former friend, drawing Arthur himself into a war with Lancelot, first in Britain and then in France. Gawain's rage is so great that he refuses to cease fighting even after the Pope steps in and issues a bull to end the violence between Arthur's and Lancelot's factions. Following Mordred's betrayal, Gawain wages two wars against both Mordred and Lancelot. He twice challenges Lancelot to a duel, but each time loses and asks Lancelot to kill him. Lancelot refuses and grants him mercy before leaving. The mortally injured Gawain later writes to Lancelot, repenting of his bitterness, asking for his help against Mordred, and for forgiveness for splitting the Round Table. Following his death, Gawain also appears in Arthur's dream vision to tell him to wait thirty days for the reconciled Lancelot to return to Britain before fighting Mordred. Consequently, Arthur sends Lucan and Bedivere to make a temporary peace treaty, but the bloody final conflict ensues anyway. Upon his eventual arrival, Lancelot weeps at Gawain's tomb for two nights. In his editorial preface to Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, William Caxton wrote that those visiting Dover Castle can still "see the skull of , and the same wound is seen that Sir Launcelot gave him in battle."
Finally, there are versions in which Gawain does not die. In Jean des Preis's Belgian Ly Myreur des Histors, Arthur, defeated and wounded in his last battle with Mordrech, goes with Gawain in a boat to the magic isle of Avalon for them to be healed there by the king's sister Morgaine. The surviving Gawain also features in the earlier French epic poem ', appearing together with Arthur and Morgan in Avalon, where they are all still alive hundreds of years later.